


It Would've Been You

by canbrooklynwrite



Category: We Are The Tigers - Allen
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26451091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canbrooklynwrite/pseuds/canbrooklynwrite
Summary: The Back-to-School party was supposed to be the night of both of their lives, but it ends up being very different than they expect.(Title taken from IDK)
Relationships: Cairo & Kate (We Are The Tigers), Cairo & Riley (We Are The Tigers), Cairo/Kate (We Are The Tigers), Chess & Kate (We Are The Tigers)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 18





	1. Back to School

The walls of lockers lined the halls of Giles Cory High and on this particular day, a sealed envelope was slipped into a select group of those lockers. Inside the envelopes were invitations to a back to school party that some seniors were throwing. This was the senior’s chance to decide who was going to be cool this year. The popular seniors picked their favorite underclassmen to “mentor” (which really meant bully slightly less) and this was their first chance. The juniors and sophomores were mostly picked out already, but the freshmen were wild cards. Most of them were picked because of sibling’s reputations or on rare occasions their own preceded them. Everyone knew that the invitations were being sent out today and they all awaited the results eagerly. 

Kate on the other hand couldn't care less. Or at least that’s what she told herself. She was a freshman, a newbie around the high school. She knew very few people other than her gymnastics friends and her best friend Chess. None of the gymnastics girls were super popular and Chess definitely didn’t aim for attention like that. Anything the upperclassmen would know about her would be through her two older brothers, who are both in college now. They’re both nerds and weren’t really part of the “party scene” in high school. So she definitely didn’t expect an invitation. But, to her surprise, one fluttered out when she opened the door of her locker after school. She opened the envelope to find a traditional party invitation with some balloons around the border. 

**Back to School Party**

**When: August 23, 2017**

**What: Come for some music, games, food, and fun!**

**Where: Address: 138 W Oak Dr.**

**Be sure to have a ride or plan to use public transportation to get home safely :)**

_ Well, they sure did put a lot of effort into these invitations,  _ Kate thought sarcastically.  _ It looks like an 8-year-old did this in Microsoft Word. What’s with the last part? Do they plan to get everyone super drunk? And am I even going to go? I probably should run this by Chess. _

She put the envelope into her backpack and went off to go find Chess. She had just turned 16, so Kate was ready to start bumming rides off of her this year. Chess was at her own locker packing her things up for the day. Kate walked up behind her and grabbed the taller girl by the shoulders, startling her. 

“Aah! Kate! You have  _ got  _ to stop doing that to me. I’m going to have a heart attack,” she complained

“Come on, you know you love me.”

“I can love you and hate you at the same time  _ Katherine _ ”

“Hey, you know I hate my full name!”

“Well, now we’re even.” Chess smirked at herself, knowing she had won. Kate stuck her bottom lip in mock disappointment. 

“You’re no fun Chess.”

“I’m a lot of fun and you know it. Now come on, let’s go. I’ve got math homework to do and I need at least two hours to convince myself to actually start it.”

Kate threw her backpack into the passenger seat of Chess’s car. She had the envelope in her hand and set it on the console while she put on her seatbelt. Chess noticed it and picked it up as she climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Is this what I think it is?”

“Sure is.”

The expression on Chess’s face was almost unreadable. One reason Kate didn’t tell her right away was that she didn’t know how Chess would respond. And this wasn’t helping her feel any better.

“Are you gonna go?” the older girl asked.

“I’m not sure yet. Should I?”

“I don’t know Kate. Most of the upperclassmen are jerks and I don’t want something bad to happen to you.” Chess sounded legitimately worried. But she played it off quickly by saying, “Or even worse: you become popular!” 

“Oh shut up, I’m not cool and you know it.”

“I beg to differ. You’re obviously cool enough to get invited to the biggest back to school party that happens at Giles Corey.”

“Yeah, I guess. I probably won’t go anyways. Unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Unless you come with me! It would be so fun! Our first high school party together, come on Chess, go big or go home right?”

“Kate you know I can’t. My parents would murder me and I don’t want them to pull me from gymnastics like they threatened last year. I can’t lose gymnastics. Besides, the point of this party is for everyone to get drunk, high, or in somebody’s pants. Or all three.”

“We’ll be careful. We’ll bring our own drinks so we don’t get too drunk that we do something stupid! It’s just for fun, why not? Please Chess.”

Chess’s tone hardened as she got more and more insistent. Her protective instincts were kicking in. “No Kate, I’m not gonna go. And you shouldn’t either. You either build a reputation of being too uptight or too loose at this party, especially as a freshman, and I don’t want that to happen to you.” She saw a look in Kate’s eyes that told her to calm down a little bit. “Sorry, that was a little much. I just need my best friend safe okay?”

“It’s okay Chess. I get it. I know I shouldn’t go, but a girl can dream, can’t she?” As Kate said this, Chess pulled the car into Kate’s driveway. “I’ll see you on Monday Chess, okay?”

“See you then Squirt. Love ya. Don’t do anything stupid this weekend.” 

“Love you too Checkers.”

As Chess drove away, Kate knew two things about this weekend: she was going to that party and she had to keep Chess from finding out.

  
  


Cairo had been unknown for too long. She was a sophomore now, and she wanted the whole school to know her name. She had been content during freshman year, hanging out with Riley and adapting to being a high school student and going to the occasional party. But this year would be different. She would become the face of Giles Corey. And that meant she had to be at the back to school party and then she would make sure all of the stories about that night would feature her. 

Riley would be going, she was already a cheerleader and that would help Cairo get in since everyone knew they were attached at the hip. But she still wasn’t totally sure she’d get an invite until she opened her locker after school on Friday. The white envelope with a poorly designed invitation fluttered out and Cairo let out a little squeal of excitement. She picked it up and checked to make sure it was what she hoped it would be. She ran off to find Riley and show her so they could go back to her house and plan their outfits for the weekend. 

  
  


After 30 minutes of changing between outfits in Riley’s bedroom, the girls finally decided on distressed jean shorts and a cropped graphic t-shirt with some constellations on it for Cairo and a cute pair of short overalls with a solid tee for Riley. While Cairo checked her outfit out in the mirror, the girls decided to speculate on how the party would go.

“So how long do you think it’ll be before Kimberly and her stupid boyfriend will be shirtless?” Riley asked. “I give them about 10 minutes.”

“Come on, you think too highly of her. They’ll be in a bedroom in 3.” she said, sitting down on the bed next to Riley. 

“I don’t understand how they always do that. It just seems--wrong,” Riley said with a little shrug.

“We’re in high school Ri, they just want to live a little.”

“Yeah, I guess." She paused and her brow furrowed. "What are you trying to get out of this party anyway, Cai? You’ve been talking about it for weeks. Why are you so excited?”

A mischievous and determined grin spread across Cairo’s face. “This is going to be our year Riley, and this is where it’s all gonna start. Everyone knows who you are because of cheer. But after tomorrow, they’ll all know me too.” 

Riley knew her best friend and she knew that whatever she was planning wasn’t a good idea. But when Cairo had her mind set on something, she was going to do it. There was no deterring her, so Riley had given up on trying. She was just there to clean up the mess afterwards. That’s just how it was. Images flashed through her mind of Cairo getting drunk or high or both and being Party Cairo (which was never good for anyone) from parties that they had in junior high. Riley was the only reason Cairo hadn’t become a laughingstock. She knew that would’ve devastated Cairo, so she made sure everyone remembered those nights just a little differently, even if that meant Riley’s reputation was a little worse. Their relationship had always been give and take. Riley helped Cairo when she got crazy and Cairo helped Riley when her anxiety took over. They had learned how to calm each other down. Cairo and Riley saw the worst in each other but they knew how to make it better.

Cairo closed her eyes and sighed, sinking deeper into the bed. Riley offered for her to spend the night, even though it’s assumed for most Friday nights. They ordered pizza, turned on You’ve Got Mail (Riley got to pick) and slowly drifted off to sleep, the anticipation of tomorrow’s party almost palpable in the air. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure when I'll get around to updating this (school and rehearsal and whatnot) but I'll try and get the next chapter out ASAP! I hope you enjoyed it and feel free to leave any feedback, I'd love to hear it. Thanks for reading!


	2. Party Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally get to see what a Giles Corey High party looks like! Questionable decisions are made and men are kinda icky, what's not to like about this chapter :)

Thankfully, the party wasn’t far from Kate’s house because otherwise, she would’ve been screwed. Chess drove her basically everywhere and she wasn’t about to ask her parents to drive her. It was only about a 2-mile bike ride from her house. The party was at this football player named Ian’s house whose parents were rich and apparently not home for the weekend. Kate was about a block away from the party when she pulled over on her bike. She knew it wasn’t cool to ride your bike places, so she planned to walk the rest of the way. She stopped next to an undeveloped plot of land in the middle of the neighborhood, so she hid her bike in a group of trees and prayed no one would steal it. 

After triple checking that you couldn’t see her bike from the street, Kate walked the last block to Ian’s house. As she approached the house, she could already hear music and the occasional cheer coming from the backyard. A wave of dread washed over her as she ran through all the reasons this was a bad idea and how upset Chess would be if she found out. But she pushed that down and pressed on.

She opened the front door and was met by the smell of sweat and chlorine. She could see through a door opened to the backyard that there was a pool and everyone outside was already half undressed and in the water. To her left, the kitchen with too many bottles to count lining the counter. To her right, the living area with teenagers in different groups, some already piled on top of each other. The bass of the music pulsed through the entire house. It raised from the floorboards and into Kate’s chest, temporarily breaking apart the anxiety that welled up in her. She felt her body move along to the beat without any effort. Kate was only good at partying if her brain stayed out of it and so far, she was off to a good start. 

“Yo we’ve got some fresh meat coming in!” a deep male voice exclaimed. In response, everyone within earshot cheered. “Let’s be sure to show her a good time, yeah?” Kate was able to pinpoint the voice to a jock standing on the coffee table off to her right. He raised his red solo cup in the air in a mock toast, jumped down, and headed in her direction. Kate had to consciously keep her arms relaxed at her side so they wouldn’t cross herself off to the older kid.

“Kelly, right? I’m Ian. Welcome to high school.” the guy said, gesturing around him as if the entire high school experience is enclosed in this one party. And you know what? Maybe it is, but that’s a story for someone else to tell.

“Actually it’s Kate. And thanks,” she replied. 

“Well then. Kate,” he said as he put his arm around her waist. “If you need anything tonight or ever, just let me know,” he murmured, punctuating with a wink as he walked back to join his friends in the living room. 

Kate almost turned around right then and went home. She now had an idea of why she got invited to this stupid party: Ian thought she was cute. Or easy. Or something like that. Either way, she didn’t like it. But Kate is stubborn as anything and she was going to prove Chess wrong. So she walked into the kitchen, joined a group of some girls she sorta recognized just from seeing them around the hallways, and introduced herself. She was gonna be okay.

* * *

  
  


Cairo and Riley pulled up to Ian’s house about an hour after the party started because Cairo wanted to be “fashionably late”. Or at least that’s what she told Riley. In reality, she took a little more time than she had intended to hype herself up and gather the courage to put herself out there. She wasn’t dumb; she knew that tonight would define the rest of her high school career and maybe even the rest of her life. She knew that it was important to not screw everything up and that made her nervous. But if she told Riley that, it would make Riley nervous and then they would both be nervous and that would just cause more problems. So the girls showed up “fashionably late” to find a typical Giles Corey High party in full swing. 

The music was almost deafening when you walked in the door. People were dancing everywhere and everyone had a red cup in their hands. There seemed to be no space between couples; they moved to the beat as one person with hands everywhere, touching everything with no boundaries. No one cared what everyone else was doing. They were all in their own bubbles. 

The girls heard a crash come from upstairs and one of the football players came down the stairs. He walked into the kitchen, grabbed a broom and dustpan, and trudged back upstairs. Cairo assumed he had broken a lamp or something, that kind of thing was expected. Ignoring the guy with the broom and the chaos in the living room, Cairo glided into the kitchen with Riley following behind. She took a bottle of vodka sitting on the counter (how teenagers managed to get this much booze always astounded her) and she poured herself a shot. She quickly downed it, poured another, and downed that one as well. She ignored the look Riley was giving her which somehow said “Slow Down” and “This is a bad idea” and “You’re going to regret this” but also “Don’t worry I’ll deal with it” and “I’ll still be here when you wake up after all of this” at the same time. She knew her Riley, nothing she ever did would drive her away. So she kept going. Riley walked off to another room so she didn’t have to see the disaster Cairo was about to become, but she'd be back. Some people in the kitchen saw her drinking and they started to chant “Shots! Shots!” to encourage her. And that’s all she needed. 

Cairo kept going until she could barely see straight, with at least two other people drinking along with her, though they couldn't quite keep up. Cairo didn't like to lose, even when she was very drunk. Then she and this guy named Jay beat two other football players at beer pong, which they didn't appreciate. She learned that Jay was a senior and played basketball. He said he was "tight" with Ian, so he knew his way around the house (whatever that meant). He couldn't stop smiling at her and her typical smirk turned up a little more than usual when he was there. Then out of nowhere,  Jay grabbed her hand and pulled her into the living room, led her onto the coffee table with him, and just started dancing. He looked so relaxed it made Cairo feel even more at ease. They just let the music move them, laughing at Jay because he could NOT dance. And he knew it, but he didn't care. So they danced like no one was watching. But this whole time, all eyes were focussed on her. Which is just how she wanted it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, things can only get worse from here, right? Hope you enjoyed this and as always, I'd love to have feedback. Thanks for reading!


	3. (You Don't Know) What's Best for Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate and Cairo talk to their best friends...it doesn't go well. Also, the boys at this party are not good (to put it lightly)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW rape vibes (really don't know what to call it, it's implied but no one is hurt, idk how do label things but just heads up)

After finding their way outside, Kate and the other girls she had met we're having a great time. She discovered that three of them were on the volleyball team and the other two were soccer players. All of them were much more athletic than Kate, but she enjoyed their company. They helped make her feel at home at this party, which was a completely foreign scene for her. They spilled some tea about upperclassmen at Giles Corey including some dude named Jay (maybe one of Ian’s friends?) that Kate vowed to stay away from and some girl named Reese, a sophomore that these girls said “deserved better”. She wasn’t exactly sure what they meant by that and she was about to ask when her phone started ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket to see that Chess was calling her. Panicking, she debated what to do. If she ignored it, Chess would think that something was wrong because she always answered for Chess. If she picked up though, Chess would be able to tell she had gone to the party. And she didn’t want that either. Most of the loud sounds were coming from inside, so she decided to walk around to the side yard where it was quietest and answer. She hit accept and pulled the phone up to her ear. 

“Hello?”

“Hey Kate, what’s up?”

“Oh, ya know….stuff” _Crap I am a terrible liar_

“Stuff? Sounds super important.” Chess responded with a chuckle. “Anyway, I was thinking maybe you’d wanna come over in a bit and watch a movie with me? I’m in the mood for _The Princess Bride_ but I’m open to suggestions.”

“Honestly, I would love that. But I’m just so swamped with homework I-” 

It was at that moment everything came crashing down. Literally. Some jock ran outside, yelled COWABUNGA!!, and cannonballed into the pool. Kate even felt a few droplets of pool water splash onto her back. And of course, Chess heard it.

“What was that?”

“Oh it was nothing, don’t worry-”

“Kate, did you go to that party!?”

“What, no! I definitely did not do that.”

“I cannot believe you! I told you not to--” Chess realized she had started yelling and took a deep breath before continuing. “Katie, please leave that party.” There was a sense of urgency in her voice. “I don’t want you getting hurt and I’m not there to protect you. Please go home. Or come over. I don’t care! Just get the heck out of there now!”

You know when your mom or dad tells you to clean your room so you don’t want to, even though you planned on doing it already? This was like that. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the fact that Chess hadn’t raised her voice at Kate like that in a long time, maybe it was both, but this rubbed Kate the wrong way.

“You know what? No. I’m staying at this party and I’m going to have a good time. You aren’t my mom, Chess. You can’t _rule_ over me like you can with your little brother. I can do whatever I want, and right now maybe I want to get super drunk and kiss some people. Just to piss you off. So you can watch your little movie and cry yourself to sleep, wondering if I’m going to be okay at this “super mature” high school party. And I guess you’ll have to wait until the morning to find out.” 

Chess knew she had lost already. When Kate got like this, there was no stopping her. Very softly, she pleaded one last time, “Kate, just please be careful, okay? I’ll be one call away all night if you need me. I love you squirt”

“I know. Goodnight Chess.”

Determined to piss off her best friend, she turned around, marched into the house, and found Ian sitting on the couch in the living room. He had a drink in his hand and was laughing along with some friends, grooving to the music that was playing. She made her way over to him, grabbed his drink from his hand, and set it down. Then she sat next to him, turned his face to hers, and kissed him as she had never kissed anyone before. Obviously, he was a little startled but after a second of realization, he kissed her right back. After a minute or two, they broke apart for the first time to take a breath and he pulled her close to him. She turned her body so she was on his lap, straddling him. Their hips were locked together. Her hands were around his neck. His hands were slowly creeping their way up her shirt. Now at this point, Kate knew she was a lesbian. She had known for a while but was still kinda scared to tell people. Obviously, Chess and some of her other closest friends knew, but she wasn’t really _out._ So he didn’t know this, but she definitely did not plan to have sex at this party. She didn’t want things to get out of control with Ian, so she put her hands over his and tried to move them back down out of her shirt. He didn’t seem to fight back and he put his hands around her waist. 

After a few more minutes, he pulled away again. Kate expected him to say something. Instead, he grabbed her and stood up, lifting her as easily as a small child, kissing down her neck as he walked.

“Where are we going?” Kate asked, confused. 

“My room, duh. That’s what you want, right babe?”

Kate’s fight or flight kicked in and she panicked. Knowing he had complete control over her physically, she knew if she tried to fight back, she would lose. But she also knew that she is smarter than he is. 

“Of course it is. But let’s do it right, okay? Let me head to the guest bathroom, you go to your room and we both get ready. I’ll meet you there in a minute, okay?” She kissed him softly on the cheek in an attempt to completely sell her innocence act. 

“Yeah, absolutely. I’ll be waiting.” His smirk made Kate want to vomit. But he set her down, showed her where the guest bathroom was and made sure she knew where his room was too. After hearing his door close, she snuck out of the bathroom into another bedroom in the hall. She opened the door to find she wasn’t the only one who needed to escape.

* * *

Cairo doesn’t remember how she got into this guest room. Well, that’s not exactly true, she remembers some of it. She remembers dancing with Jay. They both got so into the music and so into each other. They danced as if they were one person. During one particularly spicy song, he had gently placed his hands around her waist, slowly moving them up and gathering her t-shirt as he went. When he finally pulled the shirt up over her head, she grabbed it out of his hands, threw it to the floor, and helped him pull his shirt off too. She saw a flash out of the corner of her eye, the unmistakable sign of someone paying attention to her. She pulled Jay closer to her and they gave their audience a show. The music got louder and louder until it swallowed them and any inhibitions the alcohol hadn’t taken away. She knew this would be all over social media by the morning. 

She also remembers that sometime later, Riley had gathered the courage to take Cairo off of that table. She dragged her into the dining room so they could talk. 

“We need to go now Cai,” Riley had said. “You aren’t thinking straight and tonight will have consequences!”

Cairo insisted she was having fun and they needed to do nothing of the sort. And she was aware of the consequences and she wanted the consequences to come.

“No. I’m done picking up after you. I’m not going to sit back and just let things happen anymore. I’m going to start protecting you as I should have a long time ago. Let’s go.”

Cairo didn’t exactly understand what Riley meant by “picking up after her” but it sounded like more of a helicopter parent thing than a best friend thing. She told Riley that if she didn’t want to be here, then she could just leave. That she didn’t need her here anyways. 

The next part of the night is a little bit fuzzy, but she remembers that Riley started crying and left. She remembers thinking that was a good thing and walking back to dance with Jay some more. He had moved on though. He was dancing with a prettier girl, a girl with freckles and blonde hair. A girl with a flat stomach and a metabolism that would let her eat whatever she wanted. A girl with perfect skin and flawless makeup. A better girl. This just made Cairo mad. She was mad at Jay for dancing with another girl, she was mad at Riley for leaving her and she was mad at herself for letting Riley leave. So she walked right up to them, pulled Jay’s face right up to hers, told him how she felt and punched him so hard that he fell to the ground. She walked out of the room to a mix of cheers and yells from Jay’s friends and girls he’s burned in the past. She marched her way upstairs in search of a place to clear her head. She goes into the guest bedroom and lies down on the bed in an effort to cool down and maybe let the world stop spinning for a while. Her eyes close as she tries to control her racing thoughts and her breathing. The next thing she knows, the door flies open and a younger girl rushes inside. She closes the door and locks it behind her. 

“Knock much?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me FOREVER to get around to writing this chapter. And next chapter we finally get to see Kate and Cairo talk to each other! The reason you're all here! Thanks for reading and any feedback you've got is appreciated :)


	4. Should've Listened

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both girls spill their guts to each other and get to let some stuff out. Mostly happy and healing in this chapter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just kind of assuming Cairo and Chess have crossed paths at some point and know each other a little bit. Also operating under the assumption that cheer tryouts have happened but the team hasn't been chosen yet because I'm writing it so I get to decide :)

“Knock much?”

“Oh shoot, I’m sorry, I didn’t know anyone was in here. Should I leave?”

“Don’t worry about it. Party sucks for you too, huh?” Cairo asked, sitting up with her back against the headboard.

“Tell me about it,” Kate sighed, coming to sit at the foot of the bed, facing Cairo. “Wait, you’re Cairo, right? You were at cheer tryouts the other day. Why are you in here by yourself anyway?”

“Nope,” she said, shaking her head. “Youngest first.” Kate gave her a questioning look, wondering how she knew she was younger. Before she could ask, Cairo answered, “You just look like a freshman, kid-”

“It’s Kate.”

“Whatever. Plus you just have this “first party” look about you. You know, the sparkle in your eye that says you expected tonight to go well and the fact that your clothes actually cover you completely. Rookie move, Kate. So what brings you in here?”

“I--I didn’t listen to my best friend.”

Cairo sighed, “I know what that’s like.”

“Really? What happened?”

And Cairo, being a tiny little bit drunk, spilled everything. She told Kate how Riley always cleaned up behind her, about how big of a deal this party was for her. Then she told her about Jay and how she tried so hard to be noticed. She told her about how Riley wanted her to leave and instead left without her. About how Jay picked another girl and about how mad she was at herself for not listening. She told Kate how stubborn she is and how she definitely can’t tell Riley she was right but she also wants her best friend back. 

“Riley is the one person who has stuck by me through everything--the crazy parties, the boys, the catfights, the stupid decisions, the nights spent crying--she was there for all of it. And I finally drove her away,” Cairo said, dejected. 

“That’s how Chess is for me. She’s saved me so many times, I owe her so much. But she can’t save me from this. I got myself into this mess and I can’t ask for her help.”

“Why not?”

And so Kate, equally as drunk, shared everything leading up to that night with Cairo. She told her about how Chess told her not to go, how much she knew she had to go but how bad she felt about lying to her best friend. Then about the phone call, about Chess still wanting to be there for her but she’s so stubborn she won’t ask for help. About her incredibly stupid decision to let Ian have what he wanted and how he tried to take advantage of her.

“And now I’m here. Drunk, scared, and stuck in a stranger’s guest room without my best friend here with me. “

  
  


“Me and you both, kid.”

Kate shivered, the alcohol having cooled her off. Cairo noticed and pulled the comforter down beside her. She scooted closer to the door to give Kate more room on the other side of the bed. Kate gratefully crawled beside Cairo and burrowed under the warm blanket. After sitting in comfortable silence for a few minutes, Kate starts thinking. 

“Cairo I have an idea.”

“That can't be good,” she said with a roll of her eyes and a smirk aimed directly at Kate

“Shut up. So we’re both miserable, you without Riley and me without Chess. But we’re both too stubborn to apologize, right?”

“Yes, we’re sad thanks for reminding me. What about it?”   
  


“What if I talked to Riley for you and you talked to Chess? Just to let them know we’re okay?”

“That’s actually not a terrible idea. Give me your phone, I’ll call Chess first since she and I know each other. Then you can have some idea of what to say to Riley. I’m going to put it on speakerphone so you can hear, but the rule is you can’t say anything to her. And I’ll do the same when you talk to Riley, deal?”

Kate nodded and handed her phone over with Chess’s contact pulled up. Cairo hit call and put the phone on speaker. It rang twice, then Chess picked up, sounding very concerned.

_ “Katie? Are you okay?” _

“Chess? This is Cairo.”

_ “Cairo?”  _ Chess sounded very confused, then even more worried than before. “ _ Is Kate okay? What happened?” _

Cairo turned to see the pain on Kate’s face when she heard the slight panic in her best friend’s voice. “Don’t worry, she’s okay. She’s actually right here. She told me a little of what happened earlier tonight and just wanted someone to make sure you knew she was okay. She didn’t think you’d believe it if she told you, so I’m just calling to tell you she’s safe and she’s doing just fine.”

“ _ Oh, okay. Well, I’m glad she’s okay. Will you--can you please tell her that I’m right here if she needs me? And that I love her? “  _ Chess paused as if she were thinking _. “I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to her tonight Cairo. Please take care of her for me, okay?”  _ she pleaded with tears in her voice.

Cairo looked at Kate. “Absolutely Chess. I’ve got her.” Cairo reached over and took Kate’s hand in her own and squeezed it. 

_ “Thank you. I guess I’ll talk to you later?” _

“Yeah, bye Chess.”

_ “Bye Cairo.” _

Cairo could see the tears forming in Kate’s eyes, so she quickly pulled out her own phone with Riley’s contact pulled up. 

“No crying Kate, I can’t have Riley thinking something is wrong. We’ll both cry when it’s over,” she said with a sad laugh. Though it made Kate laugh too, so mission accomplished. 

“Okay, let’s get this over with,” Kate said, pressing the call button and then putting the phone on speaker.

_ “Hello? Cairo?” _

“Hi, Riley?”

_ “Yeah, who is this?’ _

_ “This is Kate. I’m at the party with Cairo and I thought I should call you--” _

_ “What did she do this time? And do I need to come to get her?”  _ Riley said with a sigh like this is something she’s dealt with before. 

“What? No, she didn’t do anything. She’s okay.”

_ “Oh, that’s good. Wait then why are you calling?” _

“She mentioned that you guys kinda left on bad terms and I didn’t want to stay that way. You’re really special to her and you deserve to know that. She doesn’t mean to hurt you and she cares a lot about you.”

_ “I care about her too, I just wish she wouldn’t be so reckless.” _

“Well maybe after tonight that’ll change,” she said with a glance at Cairo

_ “A girl can dream, right?”  _ Riley said with a small laugh.  _ “Well thank you for calling and telling me she’s okay. Tell her I’m sorry I left and ask her to call me when she gets home. And maybe someday I can meet you and thank you in person.” _ _   
  
_

“I’d like that Riley. If you’re this special to Cairo, you’ve got to be pretty cool.’

_ “Thanks, Kate. Goodnight.” _

“Bye Riley.”

  
  


As soon as she hung up, Cairo asked, “What’d you do that for?” 

“Do what?” Kate questioned.

“Tell Riley I care about her! You’re going to ruin my perfect reputation of hating everyone and caring 0% about everything,” Cairo said, lightly shoving Kate.

“Breaking news, Cairo has a heart!” Kate said, holding an imaginary microphone up to her mouth.

“Oh come on, I can’t be like you and Chess just saying “I love you” all the time”

“We don’t say it “all the time” Cairo. We say it when we mean it.” She paused and then continued, “That just happens to be frequently.”

“Whatever, kid.”

After a moment of silence, Cairo looked at Kate. “You know, that wasn’t a bad idea. Thanks for talking to Riley for me.”

“Anytime Cairo,” she said. 

Suddenly overwhelmed with relief and exhaustion, Kate leaned against the headboard of the bed and let her head drop to Cairo’s shoulder. Cairo responded by letting her own head settle on top of Kate’s. For the first time that night, both girls felt truly safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...but not for long. Wait until the next chapter! Hopefully, I'll have it up before the end of next week. Thanks so much for reading!


	5. Name One Person You Like

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things finally go right for these two. They deserve a break. Though Ian doesn't think they do

At that moment, Ian threw open the door. Both girls jumped and their hearts started racing. Cairo instinctively stood up, separating Ian from Kate.

“So this is where you ran off to, huh babe? Don’t worry, I’d be nervous too. I mean, look at me. But let’s go back to my room, it’s much more comfortable.” Ian said with a grin.

Kate moved closer to Cairo. “I’m not coming, Ian.”

Ian walked towards the bed and Cairo stood up between Ian and Kate, who stayed on the bed. 

“Oh yeah? And are you going to protect her?” Ian said to Cairo. “Cool with me. If you’d rather make out with your girlfriend in here Kate, go right ahead. But I get to watch. You’re both hot, so it’s a win-win, right?”

“You’re sick,” Kate said. 

“No, no it’s okay babe,” Cairo said, shooting Kate a look over her shoulder. “He can join us. What’s one more, right?” she said, coming closer to him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and slowly moved them down to his chest. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of her, a power Cairo couldn’t help but use. “Think you can keep up, lover boy?”

Ian bit his lip and moved in to kiss Cairo. She had him in the palm of her hand. As he leaned in, she gracefully brought her knee up to his crotch. Hard. He crumpled to the floor in shock and pain.

“Don’t you dare come near either one of us ever again, you hear me? Get out. Now.”

In stunned silence and pain, Ian crawled on all fours out of the room. Cairo followed him to the door, closed it and locked it. 

Kate lets out a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Cairo. I don’t know if I would’ve been able to get rid of him on my own.”

“It’s no big deal. I deal with guys like that all the time, it’s just high school.”

“Yeah, I guess. But thanks for protecting me anyway.”

Cairo sat back on the bed and settled where she had been earlier. Kate leaned her head back onto the older girl’s shoulder. After a moment, she had a question.

“Is high school really that bad?” Kate asked, sitting up and looking at Cairo.

“It’s not all bad. Especially if you meet the right people.” Cairo’s eyes locked on to Kate’s and it felt like the whole room was filled with electricity. Cairo leaned in and their lips met. Unsure, she pulled away to make sure Kate was okay with this. Good news for Cairo, she was. She was more than okay with it. Kate leaned back in and kissed Cairo with a passion. Her hand found Cairo’s neck and pulled her in while Cairo rested her hand perfectly around Kate’s waist. 

Cairo was about to pull Kate onto her lap when they heard a phone ring. It was Kate’s. Chess was calling her. And after everything tonight, she couldn’t ignore Chess. So she picked up. 

“Hello?”

“Hey, Kate. I’m outside here to pick you up.”

“Pick me up?”

“Yeah, you texted me that you needed a ride home? There’s still time to watch a movie before I turn into a pumpkin if we head back to my house now.”

“Okay, I guess I’ll be right there then.”

Kate hung up, still visibly confused. She hadn’t texted Chess. She hadn’t even really been on her phone since---

“Did you text Chess?”

“I might have…” Cairo replied sheepishly. “But I just wanted to keep you safe! I didn’t know that we’d click so easily, but I really like you. And I didn't want you to regret not talking to Chess. So I kind of did it for you.”

“Cairo, that’s really sweet. I just wish she would’ve shown up 10 minutes later.”

“I know, I kinda sabotaged myself, didn’t I?” she said, her signature smirk on her lips. 

Not wanting tonight to be a one-night thing, the girls exchanged numbers and promised to text each other very soon. As she walked out the door, Kate turned. 

“Thank you, Cairo.”

  
  
  
  


Cairo sat back in the bed and replayed the night in her head. Some of it was a little fuzzy, and she was pretty sure she had made some stupid decisions that she might regret later. And she still had to fix things with Riley. But she also knew for certain that tonight hadn’t been all bad. Some of it had even been good. Really good. And she was thankful too. 

  
  
  


As Chess drove away from the party with Kate in the passenger seat next to her, she asked what happened that was so bad that Cairo had to intervene. 

“I don’t really want to talk about it. But I never want to be back at this house again. At least not without Cairo.”

Chess knew to leave it alone at that point. If Kate didn’t want to tell her, then she wouldn’t. But she was grateful to Cairo for telling her Kate was okay. She may not have always liked Cairo herself, she was glad someone else was there to look out for Kate. 

After watching half of the “Princess Bride” (Chess fell asleep), Kate settled into the couch in Chess’s basement. They had spent many nights down here, swapping secrets and stories, playing games, and watching movies. It was Kate’s second home. She was about to close her eyes to sleep when her phone buzzed. It was a text from Cairo.

“ _Thank you too, kid."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter left! And it'll be more of an epilogue, so stay tuned for the rest of the story. Thanks again for reading and please let me know what you think!


	6. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know when something so amazing happens you don't want to talk about it for fear of losing it? Or when something so terrible happens you don't talk about it so you don't have to relive it? Kate and Cairo don't talk about that night. The reason why is up to you.

The next week at school, both girls had seemed to move on. They were both drunker than they would like to admit and once they were sober, they regretted it. They regretted the whole night. Or most of it at least. Coincidentally, they were in the same math class. Before the bell rang to begin class, Cairo walked up to Kate.

“Hey, kid.”

“Hi, Cairo.”

“Listen, about this weekend--”

“Cairo, I don’t really want to talk about it, okay?” she said, feeling those butterflies rise in her stomach again and fearing what that really meant. 

“No, yeah totally. I just want to be on the same page. We were both drunk and I definitely wasn’t fully functioning. I didn’t really know what I was doing. So we’re cool?” 

“Yeah, we’re cool. We were both drunk.” she nodded. “Let’s just forget anything ever happened.”

“I can agree to that,” Cairo sighed.  The bell rang to begin class, so Cairo went back to sit down. 

And that was the last time that Kate and Cairo talked about that night. Obviously what happened didn’t just go away. Those memories, regardless that parts of that night were fuzzy, were never far from either girl’s mind. And if you look close enough, you can tell things were different after that night. Neither girl deleted the text that Cairo sent that night and sometimes Kate would reread it on her bad nights. Kate, Chess, and Cairo all made the cheer team that year and though she never admitted it, Cairo may have been a little too excited when she saw Kate’s name on that list. Within a month, Kate was out to the cheer squad and by the next month, most of the school knew. She decided she didn’t want to hide anymore. On bus rides to football games, Cairo sat behind Kate. Not because she wanted to be near her though. Riley got carsick easily, so she had to sit at the front. Cairo obviously thinks the front of the bus is lame so she sits towards the back. It just happens to also be behind Kate. And Kate definitely has never noticed that, so when she lets Chess get off first to spend a few extra seconds near Cairo, it’s a complete accident. When the team circles up after practice, the two girls may stand a little closer to each other than anyone else, but that‘s just a coincidence. Even though it’s an almost daily occurrence. 

Their lives clearly weren’t changed because of that night. They both claim to not remember it well anyway. So during the sleepover two and a half years later when Annleigh claims that they’re dating, they get super defensive. They immediately look to each other to confirm that no one snitched. To make sure that the other didn’t remember the spark that had been squashed so long ago. To remind themselves that the feeling was gone--no, that the feeling hadn’t even been there to begin with. The feeling of finally being understood, being fought for, being loved, even just for a night. To check that the night a year earlier hadn’t happened when Cairo’s boyfriend broke up with her and she was crushed, but she got through because of Kate. Riley had been out of town, so snuck with Kate to a park and they talked for hours in the middle of the night and it made Cairo feel better. To make sure no one had said anything about the one night after the first sleepover when Kate had a panic attack but Cairo calmed her down. She had a nightmare that Chess was dead then she woke up and Chess really was dead so she called Cairo without thinking and Cairo sat on the phone with her for more than 3 hours to help her see what (and who) she still had left that care for her. And it worked, leaving them both feeling the most at peace they had felt since the sleepover. They deny all of that. Because if they didn’t want it to be real, it didn’t have to be. 

If that one night had been real, then it would’ve been Kate and Cairo together facing the world through high school. Through three years of cheer. Through a year of Cairo struggling through math. Through years of Kate struggling with bullies because of her sexuality. Through the sleepover. But it hadn’t. It wasn’t real. They had chosen their paths. But if Kate and Cairo were given the chance to go back, both girls would’ve chosen differently. They would’ve chosen each other. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh! I finished my first multi-chapter fic! I hope you guys enjoyed this and thank you SO much for reading. As always, feel free to let me know how you like it and I hope you have an amazing day :)
> 
> Edit: I definitely forgot I've already done a multi-chapter fic? I don't know what my brain is doing anymore. My school just finished our fall musical and I'm physically and mentally dead so whoops lol


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